Wardrobe.



v F. N. BARDWELL.

WARDROBE. APPLICATION HLED AUG. I9, 1914.

Patented Jan. 4, 1916. v

' w Fi l v i; 20

1 17 .9. 19 iafilzl WITNESSES i 'lNV/VTOR g% I'M/1 BMW BY j w Arm/mm coLuMmA PLANOGRAPH ca WASHINGTON, n. c.

I rife FRANCIS NEWTON nannwnLn, oryrassiuo, NEW JERSEY.

WARDROBE.

Application filed August 19, 1914. Serial 110,857,510.

to another, as a whole, which may be collapsed for storage or shipping, andwhich I presents the unique appearance-of. an entirely different article of furniture, such as a screen, or other article.

Another object is to provide a suitable frame in the desired form, suitably covered to protect the contents from dirtor dust, and to provide a front therefor composed of hinged units extending from top to bottom, removable from the frame, and independently collapsed on said hinges; and a further object is to provide such an article of furniture which is, or may be made, very ornate as well as deceptive; which is very strong; which may be adapted to various positions in a room or apartment; and which is comparatively inexpensive.

My invention is fully described in the following specification, of which theaccompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate parts are designated by the same reference characters in each of the views,- and in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is a top plan View thereof, partly broken,

away; Fig. 8 is a detached view of the back, with the sections foldable on horizontal lines; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the sectionsrfoldable on vertical lines.

In the drawings forming a part of this application I have shown a wardrobe com-' prising a casing open at the front and a cover or front therefor composed of a plurality of sections hinged together and foldable on each other, said front comprising the door or doors of the wardrobe, and also the supporting side panels, said front being of an angular formation to carry out the feature of deception as to appearance. In the form shown the casing proper con- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. a, rare.

sists of upper and lower frames 7 and 8, connected with aback 9, said back comprising a plurality of frames 10 covered by a sheet 11 of suitable material, each said.

frames 10 being hinged together, as shown at 12, whereby said frame. sections may be' folded one on the other, preferably reversely, when it is desired to store the wardrobe, andthe connection between the back 9. and frames 7 and 8 is of such form as to be readily detached when it is desired to knock down the wardrobe, no specific, connecting means being shown as many forms thereof now in use may be utilized.

The frames/7 and 8 consist, each, of a rear strip 13, two forwardly and inwardly in-v clined sidestr ips 14, and two crossed strips 15 secured to the side strips, and the frames so formed are each covered by a sheet 16 of suitablematerial, all of the frames 7, 8 and 10, being handled as units with their respective coverings, and it will be noted that the top and bottom frame strips 15 cross each other exactly in the middle of the front of the frames. I i

The wardrobe front consists of four panels 17, 18, 19, and 20, of which 17 and 18 V are hinged together at 21 and 19 and 20 are hinged together at 22, the panels 17 and 20 being connected with the back 9 and with the upper and lower frames 7 and 8, de-' tachably, one form of such connectionb'eing shown in Fig. 4c and which comprises ordinary dowels 23 entering corresponding holes in the side panels 17 and 20, and a loose tack 24 maintaining the parts against separation longitudinally of said dowels, but I do not desire to limit myself to any specific type of connection means. The panels 18 and 19 thus form the doors for the ward robe, and may be provided with handles 25, I

and also with catches or locks, not shown, and the hinged panels 17, 18, 19, and 20 present the appearance of an ordinary screen because of the vertically foldable abilityof the panels, the inclination of the panels with respect to each other, and the highly ornate tops, all of which tend to carry out the desired appearance.

The wardrobe elements, viz :the

hinged panels 17 and 18, 19 and 20. foldable back 9, and frames 7 and 8, are each distinct from each other in storing the wardrobe, and thus but little room is required, and even an unskilled person, without any tools, may

set-up or take-down the wardrobe in a very few minutes; the front may be, in fact, a screen vended as such, with the fanciful Japanese ornamentation, or the plain though highly polished panels of wood, but I prefer to provide the wardrobe as a whole, with ample latitude for taste in design.

If desired, as shown in Fig. 5, I may form the back 9 01"- sections 26 hinged together along vertical lines, this form giving opportunity for folding in the manner of the front panels, and this form also lends itself to the adaptation of the wardrobe for use in a corner of a room, the upper and lower frames 7 and 8, however, requiring to be changed in such use.

It will thus be seen that I provide a wardrobe which may contain the usual shelves and hooks, or even drawers, but which gives the appearance of an entirely different article of furniture; which may be readily knocked-clown for storage; and which is very simple in construction and also inexpensive.

Having fully described the invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

As a new article of manufacture, a wardrobe, comprising central and outer screen sections adapted to be folded upon each other, a central section being hinged to one outer section and latched to the adjacent section at its other edge, an upper frame and a lower frame in detachable connection with said outer screen sections and the side edges of which serve to dispose the outer screen sections rearwardly at an angle to each other and to the central section, and a back in detachable connection with said frames and with said outer sections, said central, latched, section constituting a door for the wardrobe.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

FRANCIS NEWTON BARDWELL.

Witnesses HORACE VVAITE, EUGENE P. VVHITTIER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washingtoml); C. 

